Owners of Mountain Resort Homes May Face Burst Pipes Due to Cold

Some vacationers flocking to San Bernardino Mountain resort communities for the long President’s Day weekend are finding their cabins flooded with water leaking from pipes that burst during last week’s frigid weather conditions.

On Friday, the Lake Arrowhead Community Services District, which provides water and sewers to 5,000 houses, shut off water supplies to 250 homes with broken pipes in an effort to curb water losses.

But, water district officials said, it was all but impossible to know exactly how many homes have been affected.

“A lot of these vacation homes are locked up,” Lake Arrowhead water district spokesman Simon Russin said. “When some owners get up here they are going to find 2 to 3 feet of water in their basements.”

‘Could Get Expensive’

“On top of the damage to their homes, they are going to have to pay for the water that went through their meters, and that could get expensive,” Russin added.

The problem stems from the subfreezing temperatures that enveloped this community all last week. Water expands when it freezes, causing pipes to burst and then leak when temperatures return to normal, as they did this week. Mild temperatures are expected to continue.

“Pipes are popping all over the place up here,” said Viola Hauser, president of the local water district.

Brenda DiPietro, 31, a Lake Arrowhead resident of three years, discovered the problem on Thursday when she and her husband were awakened by the sound of “water gushing in the basement.”

“When we opened the door, we found our three dogs swimming in 5 feet of water,” said DiPietro, adding that her family was forced to spend three days in a nearby motel. “Our water bill is going to be at least a few hundred dollars, and there has been about $2,000 damage to the house.”

However, the situation has been a boon for local plumbers, who could not keep up with the calls.

“We’ve been working 40 calls a day,” said Cheryl Reeley, president of Doc’s Plumbing, which employs four plumbers and four helpers. “The only reason we are not working 24 hours a day is the boys get too tired.”

Emergencies have been handled by local firefighters, said Alan Stocker, battalion commander for the Lake Arrowhead Fire District.

“Since the freeze of Feb. 5, we’ve responded to 22 water salvage operations,” Stocker said. “But the most we can do is remove standing water and move furniture.”

The water district’s Russin said: “Hopefully, in the future people will take more precautions to prevent this from happening and make sure they turn off their water, drain their pipes and leave the heat on at a low temperature before they leave for an extended period.”